Bobac or Steppe marmot

Marmota bobac

Distribution. Widely
distributed in the steppes of southern Russia and Kazakhstan; range as far west
as Central Europe.

According to Prof. Kenneth
Armitage, the steppe marmot is a large analog of the North American prairie
dog. With a particularly round paunch, and a laid-back alert posture, steppe
marmots would feel at home in Colorado. Unlike most other species, steppe marmots
prosper on rolling grasslands and on the edge of cultivated fields. Active for
about five and a half months each year, dispersers leave their natal social
group after their second hibernation. Litter sizes average a little over five,
and it takes at least three years to reach sexual maturity. About 60% of adult
females breed in a given year. They have a single alarm
call, but Prof. Alexander Nikolskii's long-term studies have demonstrated
that steppe marmots call faster when they live in steep terrain and slower when
they live in flatter terrain. Steppe marmots have served as a natural "food"
reservoir that saved many Russians from starving to death during periodic famines
over the last hundred years, and their fur is used to make hats and the occasional
coat. Outside Moscow, a fur-farm is experimenting with breeding steppe marmots
in captivity for captive fur production.